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UBS launches its Sports and Entertainment Group (SEG).

14 Jul 2000, 00:00Media Releases Switzerland

The clients of UBS Private Banking are increasingly seeking customized solutions and targeted professional advice covering their whole life-cycle. UBS has addressed this challenge by setting up special advisory teams for the different needs of specific client groups and today announces the launch of its Sports and Entertainment Group.

With increasing expenditure on leisure, the flow of money to people working in this business has seen significant growth in recent years. This booming cash flow (USD 22 bn was spent on world-wide sports sponsorship in 1999) is obviously filtering through to the athletes and entertainers, as illustrated by new record levels of earnings in all sports and the entertainment industry.

The individuals concerned differ in many ways from the classic private client: they are typically young and do not necessarily have a great deal of financial expertise. Although they have potential for rapid escalation of earnings, they rarely have a second chance to recreate any "lost" wealth. In addition, they do not always have the time or the wish to take care of their investments, or to think about wealth planning or retirement when concentrating on their own career.

To respond to this need, UBS Private Banking, a leader in asset management for high net worth individuals, has set up a dedicated Sports and Entertainment Group. This global Group is headed out of London by Neil Grainger (former IMG McCormack) and has representatives in the United Kingdom, France, Spain, Monaco and Switzerland (Geneva, Zurich and Lugano). It plans to extend its presence to Germany, Italy and the United States in the near future. The main segments targeted are soccer and other team sports, motor sport, golf, tennis, entertainment, media, pop and classical music. In the next few years, UBS has set itself the goal of becoming the private banking benchmark in sports and entertainment by providing excellence of service for these clients through this new Group.

Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, Vice-President of FC Bayern Munich and consultant to the Group: "What I hope for UBS is that it continues on its path and that it opens its doors to the realm of sports, and naturally to my first love, football. I think it is a highly attractive field for both the bank and for sports. And UBS, as I see it, has a very positive future."

SEG proposes to deliver an integrated financial planning model and provide a solution on a global basis with a full range of UBS products including cash management, investment management through dedicated funds (including Global Asset Management - GAM funds of funds), portfolio management, investment advisory services, tax planning, insurance advisory and legal liaison. This special service Group will also ensure simple, clear and concise reporting with all the financial information entertainers and athletes might require. The Sports and Entertainment Group can also count on the experience and expertise of people such as Paul Miller (former English soccer player), Philippe Hertig (former Swiss soccer player) and Thierry Grin (former tennis player).